Gainesville, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Sec. 22-16 defines "secondhand dealer" to include jewelers, precious metals dealers, garage sale operators, secondhand stores and consignment shops, and lists secondhand goods by name, from watches and cameras to firearms, bicycles and gold jewelry. Fourteen categories are exempt, including nonprofit sales, court-ordered sales, antique and coin shows, mail-order purchases, and any garage sale operator who holds sales less than ten weekends a year. Sec. 22-18 requires a written permit from the Gainesville Police Department before anyone may engage in, manage or carry on a secondhand dealer business, with a fee set in Appendix A; the permit lists the permittee's name and home address plus the business address, is signed by the police chief or a designee, and expires every September 30, renewable before October 1.

Sec. 22-19 requires a fee-paying application to endorse any change of business location. Sec. 22-20 requires a dealer to deliver a record of every transaction to the police department within 24 hours of acquiring goods by purchase, including the date, place, a full description with serial numbers, the seller's name, address, workplace and physical description, the seller's right thumbprint, and verification through a government-issued photo ID with the ID type, issuing agency and number recorded; the seller must also sign a statement attesting rightful ownership.

Sec. 22-21 sets a 15-day holding period on acquired property before resale, waived only when the original seller returns to redeem the item and the dealer can match it to the original transaction record. Sec. 22-22 lets a police officer place a 90-day hold on any item reasonably believed tied to a criminal investigation, and Sec. 22-23 bars a permittee from cleaning, altering, repairing or disposing of an item during the 15-day or hold-order period. Sec. 22-24 allows police to inspect a dealer's premises and records during regular business hours, and Sec. 22-25 bars purchasing precious metals from anyone under 18.